Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 24 - Husband and Wife

"Lex, you have the ring, right?" Tori asked me, flitting about the room, doing nothing in particular except freaking out.

"No, I lost it sometime between the last time you asked three minutes ago and now. Yes, I have the freaking ring, Tor! Calm down, dude. Everything is perfect."

She finally stopped and put her hands on my shoulders. She looked me square in the eyes and calmly said, "I'm getting married, Lex. I'm. Fucking. Getting. Married!"

We squealed and jumped around like a couple of teenagers at a boyband concert. There's no telling how long we would have carried on like that if we weren't interrupted by a knock on the door. When I opened it, Ashton was standing there looking fine as hell.

"Damn, Irwin. Look at you!" I exclaimed, allowing him to step inside.

"Me? Have you two seen yourselves? You're stunning. Calum is gonna lose his shit, Tori." He stood there staring at her for a second, and I swear I thought he was going to cry. But then he shook his head and said, "Anyway, Lex, can I talk to you a sec?"

I had no clue as to what he could possibly want to talk to me about. "Yeah, sure."

He opened the door, indicating he wanted me to step out of the room. So I did, assuming he was right behind me. As soon as I was in the hallway, the door shut, but Ashton was still inside. When I realized this, I turned around to try the handle (knowing good and well that it wasn't going to open), and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone standing a few feet away. Mother fucker. Michael. In a tux. Kill me now.

After my brain started functioning again, it only took me a second to figure out that Michael had put Ashton up to locking me out. I banged on the door, "Ashton Fletcher Irwin, let me in, you little shit! Your ass is mine!" I heard him giggling from the other side of the door and knew I wasn't getting back in.

"Don't be mad at Ashton," Michael said. "I kind of blackmailed him, so he had to. Long story."

"I don't even want to know. Look, Michael, we were supposed to be outside like ten minutes ago. We don't have time for this."

"I know. I just need you to agree to talk to me, Alexis. After the wedding sometime is fine. You'll be leaving in a few days, and I don't know if I'm even going to see you again before then. And you won't answer your phone. So please just take a few minutes later tonight to talk to me?"

I knew if there was any hope of fixing my fuck up and salvaging our friendship, I had to agree. "Okay, Michael. Later on at the reception or something. But seriously, we have to get going."

"Promise?" I could see both hurt and hope in his eyes and I wanted to hug him so badly. But I couldn't.

My throat began burning, so I nodded "yes" to his question rather than try to speak.

"Okay." He took a couple steps toward me and knocked on the door. "Your job is done, Ashton."

Ashton hesitantly opened the door and gave me a pleading look. "Sorry, Lex."

"Whatever, Irwin." I rolled my eyes at him, but my smile told him he was already forgiven.

Tori gave me a look asking if I was okay. I nodded and gave her a little smile before saying, "Tor, let's go get you hitched!"

The four of us joined the rest of the bridal party, and I gave one last hug to Tori before taking my place next to Michael. He held out his arm, and I linked mine with his. Though it was still a little awkward, his beaming smile made me feel like everything was going to be all right.

He leaned down to tell me, "You look beautiful, by the way."

I elbowed his ribs. "Oh, you're just trying to get in my pants, Clifford." Out of habit, the words came out before I even knew what I was saying. I immediately wished I could take it back.

He laughed at me and said, "Aw, there's my Lex."

My Lex. Great. I was going to cry for sure. Thankfully, the music started just then. Ashton and Lauren went first, then Luke and Mali, followed by Michael and me.

From my spot, I looked at Calum. It was obvious that he was a mess. And as Tori came into sight, walking down the aisle with Calum's dad, he struggled to not cry. Michael put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and that's when I lost it. I wiped tears from my face the entire ceremony.

Tori stopped to give Joy a tight hug and a tender kiss to Avery, who voiced a sweet greeting when she saw her mommy. And when she finally took her place next to Calum, he no longer had control over his tears. Tori wiped them away while they both giggled about the whole thing.

My cheeks hurt from smiling the whole ceremony. It was simple, but super sweet. We must have all looked a mess standing there because at one point some kind soul passed us a box of tissues, every single one of us taking a few.

Just before they were announced as husband and wife, Avery let out a rather loud happy squeal. She must have been as excited about her mommy and daddy making it official as the rest of us.

Their first kiss as a married couple was met by applause, whistles, and catcalls. I risked a glance at Michael during their kiss, and the wink he gave me affected me in a way I'd never let it before. I blamed the sappiness of the situation for not letting me catch that one before it slipped past the wall.

On the way back down the aisle, Tori and Calum stopped to take Avery from Joy. She kicked her little legs in excitement when Calum cradled her in his arms and kissed her chubby cheek. More tears flowed. I couldn't imagine a more perfect little family.

Once we were all back inside, we became an entangled mess of arms and torsos, hugs being given in every direction.

"You did it, guys!"

"Congrats!"

"Fuck yeah!"

It was nice to put aside the constant worry about my situation with Michael for a while. But the break was short lived because I had made a promise. So the internal battle reared it's ugly head once again as we made our way to the ballroom for the reception.

I had gone over every possible scenario in my head a hundred times. Maybe he was just going to agree that it was a mistake. Maybe he didn't think it was a mistake, but was willing to forget it and carry on our crazy friendship. Or maybe he wanted more.

The only thing I was sure of was that I had finally admitted some things to myself over the past couple days. Admitted, but not yet accepted. And that was the reason I was scared to death to have that conversation with him. I was afraid that, once alone with Michael, I wouldn't be strong enough to keep up the fight.